Another petitioner Nafisa Khan wants the Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act, 1939, to be declared unconstitutional and violative of Articles 14, 15, 21 and 25 of the Constitution.

Nikaah halala makes it mandatory for a divorced Muslim woman to marry another man, consummate the marriage and divorce him if she wishes to remarry her previous husband.

New Delhi: Even as the BJP and the opposition locked horns in Parliament over the triple talaq bill, the issue of polygamy and nikaah halala — which are being heard by a Constitution bench of the Supreme Court — appears to be gathering dust as the Centre is yet to officially state its position on these matters.

In March, a three-judge SC bench, led by the then Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, had issued notices to the Union government and the attorney general on a petition filed by Delhi-based Samina Begum, asking the government to clarify its stand on polygamy and nikaah halala.

The government sources have indicated that the Centre is in principle opposed to the practices and is likely to take a stand in favour of banning them.

In addition to Samina Begum’s petition, six more pleas have been filed in the court by victims Nafisa Begum; Rani, alias Sabnam; Zakira Begum and Farzana; and two advocates, Ashwini Upadhyay and Mohsin Kathiri.

Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, in turn, have supported the practices in the SC and argued that the Constitution does not touch upon personal laws and, therefore, the SC cannot examine the question of constitutional validity of the practices.

Meanwhile, Mumbai-based Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan is set to file a petition in the Supreme Court in January for banning the two practices, a representative from the organisation said. The NGO had also supported the banning of triple talaq in the Supreme Court in 2016.

While polygamy allows a Muslim man to have four wives, nikaah halala makes it mandatory for a divorced Muslim woman to marry another man, consummate the marriage and divorce him if she wishes to remarry her previous husband.

In her petition in the SC, Sameena Begum has argued that by virtue of Muslim Personal Law, Section 494 of the Indian Penal Code (marrying again during the lifetime of husband or wife) has been rendered inapplicable to Muslims and no married woman from the community has the avenue of filing a complaint against her husband for the offence of bigamy.

Another petitioner Nafisa Khan wants the Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act, 1939, to be declared unconstitutional and violative of Articles 14, 15, 21 and 25 of the Constitution.